Terra: An Appalachian Dance Film
I was fortunate enough to serve as co-music director, music producer, music editor, and a composer for Terra. Working closely with Saltare in Elementis Dance Collective (SIE) for their cinematic debut, I edited, mixed, and mastered all of the audio in Terra. In addition to this, I composed five original compositions for the film.
Terra was inspired by the universal issue of climate change but is specifically geared toward combating the environmental injustices and propaganda posed by coal corporations in Appalachia. Filmed entirely in Huntington, West Virginia, many young Appalachian artists collaborated to contribute research, music, and dance.
The film follows a student that is “taught” about pollution through the four natural elements, personified as four characters. Throughout the work, the elements demonstrate their timelines. At the beginning of each of their sections, they show that they symbolize a form of life or nourishment; at the end of their sections, they move to show now that they symbolize fear and destruction. Each of these elemental sections has music that evokes that specific element.
The music in Terra varies from Americana, rock, electronic music, and hip-hop. The tools I used to achieve these styles included Ableton Live 11, Spitfire Labs, and recording live instruments. The score includes music written and performed by musicians based in Huntington, WV, Charleston, WV, and Ocean City, MD.
Terra has been selected and screened at:
The British Columbia Environmental Film Fest 2021
Care Awards 2021
Docs Without Borders Film Festival 2021
Nature Without Borders International Film Festival 2022
Ocean City Film Festival 2022
Openvision 2021
